Captain Beefheart’s ‘Bat Chain Puller’ Gets Official Release

[pullquote quote=”He taught accomplished musicians how to play his difficult arrangements note by note.”]After 36 years some good comes out of the [lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]Captain Beefheart[/lastfm]/[lastfm link_type=”artist_info”]Frank Zappa[/lastfm] rivalry. To honor what would have been Captain Beefheart’s (Don Van Vliet) 71st birthday, the Zappa label will release Bat Chain Puller. Originally recorded and slated for a release in 1976, the LP never saw the light of day due to a legal dispute between Zappa and his manager Herb Cohen.

Though Van Vliet did record a few alternate versions for his 1978 release Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), this is the first time the original recordings will be made available to the public. The disc includes 16 minutes worth of bonus material and contains liner notes from former Captain Beefheart bandmates.